Generally in the state of the art, after a bobbin replacement on a roving machine, in which the pressing fingers generally remain in outwardly swung positions, from the guide eye of the pressing finger end the sliver end hanging out must be applied to the new empty sleeve. For this purpose the sleeve is provided with a sliver catcher region, for example, in the form of a so-called burr strip which engages the sliver end when it is applied to the sleeve. To achieve this, the roving machine is set into operation whereby the pressing finger under the effect of centrifugal force comes to lie against the sleeve.
Roving machines with single drives thus apply the driving force to all of the elements, i.e. the drafting frame, the flyers, the bobbins and the bobbin rail simultaneously. Since the application of the pressing finger against the sleeve and thus the acquisition of the sliver by the sleeve can be effected only when a certain minimum speed is reached, the sliver is not seized for the first few rotations. The sliver, during this interval, is not drawn from the drafting frame and since the latter is in operation, a sag develops in the sliver between the drafting frame and the flyer head. As a result, the sliver can loop around the flyer head which can give rise to a breakage in the sliver when the roving frame is not temporarily stopped and the sleeve rotated by hand. In any case, the sag in the sliver must be eliminated by the take-up of the excess between the flyer and the bobbin.
Similar problems are found also for roving machines with separately controllable drives of the flyer, the bobbin, the drafting unit and the bobbin rail.